Singaporeans have actually been using shared, electric, driverless vehicles for one and a half decades now: our familiar MRT trains. But now that Google, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Audi, and others are pushing the frontier of self-driving systems, that technology is steadily making its way onto our roads.
NTU and LTA will be adding to Grab and nuTonomy’s autonomous taxi experiment, by testing an automated bus service from NTU to CleanTech Park (and possibly even further to Pioneer MRT), come 2018.
These electric-hybrid buses will recharge much like trams – by docking with electrical masts installed above bus stops and depots – and are designed to carry up to 80 passengers. And while a cautious self-driving system powered by electricity may sound rather slow, the buses actually boast a top speed of 40kmh. There will also be an operator on board to assist passengers.
You can glimpse the future now: check out the automated bus trials already underway like:
• the EasyMile in Switzerland (also available at Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay)
• the CityMobil2 Driverless Bus in Greece
• and the banana-yellow RAC Intellibus in the land down under
As cool as these ergonomic mini-buses are, Singapore’s trial version will have a more familiar truncated design (12 meters long), with road speeds similar to the SBS and SMRT buses (only common sense with over 3 million daily riders to serve in Singapore).
Perhaps it will feel more like China’s prototype?
By Vincent Tan
